van winkle



(Model.) f I SSheets-Shee 1.

l G. H. VAN WINKLE.

Patentedjlywl, 1883'.

LOGKING LATCH.

= illll l.. I. ...52mm l l g 1 No. 276,507. y 1

` (Mdel.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

' G. H. VAN WINKLE.

LOCKING LATCH.

N`o..276,507. Patented Ap1n24, 1883.

(Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

G. H. VAN WINKLE.

. LOCKING LATCH. A

110.276.507. Patented A,p1.2`4,1883.

lUWELWGR` ,K7 ATTORNEY.

WITNESSES:

UNITED STATES NPATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE n. VAN WINKLE, OE noENELLsvILLE, NEW YORK.

LOCKING-LATCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 276,507, dated April 24, 1888.

Application tiled March 23,1882. (Model.)

To all whom it may concern: t

Beit known that I, GEORGE ELVAN WINKLE, of Hornellsville, in the county of Steuben and State ot' New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in a Combined in Loek and Latch, of which the following is afull, clear,

and exact description, reference being had to 6, 7,8,9, 10,11, and 12 are detail views ofthe `several parts of my invention.

Fig. 13 is a section through t-he plane of a portion of the door. Fig. 14. is a horizontal section through the door, and Fig. 15 is a detail view. t

My invention belongs to the class in which thelatching mechanism is inclosed in tubular casings for insertion into round holes bored into the free edges of doors, &c.

The catch a, having a projecting lip, a2, instead of being mounted on a pin or rivet, is to be pivoted in recesses in the face-plate, and4 the pivots are to be held in said recesses by the tension of a spring, k, thus simplifying the construction of these parts, so that they can be molded to the required form, and thus save the expense of' drilling and litting in rivets, Src. The said catch, being pivotefl on the sideof the casing nearest the inside of the door, is operated in latching by the projecting lip a2 striking the outside edge of the keeper, which causes the catch to turn on its pivots, slightly retracting the internal mechanism until the link e is brought to bear against the catch in such a manner as to force itslatchingangle into the keeper, thus drawing the door shut and holding it firm against the stop and taking up the slack. By this novel construction there is no liability ofthe door being unlatchediby rebounding or failing to latch if it is closed within one-fourth ot' an inch of the stop, to accomplish which purpose was my prime motive in inventing this latch. The catch is also provided with a curved recess., c,

\ in which, when the door is unlatched, fits a rounded projection, d, at one end of link e; but when the door is being latched said rounded projection is forced out of' said recess as the catch a is turned on its pivots. The link, then actuated by the spring-actuated lever, slides forward between catch a and casing j, thus preventing the catch from unlatching until said link is drawn back, so as again to cngage with the curved recess c in thecatch a., which, being thus released, is free to turn on its pivots by contact with the keeper as the door is opened by the lever g being oscillated by its connection with the knobs, as will be hereinafter explained. This link e, at the opposite end thereof, is placed in engagement by means of a. slot therein (through which also the screw passes that holds the casing together) with the hooked endfof theleverg,which has its fulcrum against the raised piece 7L on the casing j, near the screw-hole. The stop i, secured to the inner surl'ace of the tubular casingj, limits the oscillation ofthe lever in one direction,while the spring lc is compressed between the inner end of casingj and a notch in the lever in such a manner that it shall tend to oscillate the lever in the opposite direction `when moved to contact with stop fi. The inner end of casing j is provided. with open-` ingsat opposite points, through which the;

spindle m is passed. This spindle., which isthreaded andslotted at the ends to receive the knobs n o and the screws p g, by which the knobs may he secured at any desired distance from eachother to accommodate the device to doors of diderent thicknesses, is reduced `at the center, as shown at fr, and provided with a collar, s, which-serves as a stop for the' sleeve t, inclosing a part ot" the spindle and covering the reduced portion r. The sleeve t, which is loosely mounted upon the spindle, is provided with a longitudinal slot ,u, extending the length of the reduced portion of the spindle and terminating at the collar s. This slot is of such width at the end, near tle collar, as to receive the end of the lever g, and allow the sleeve to be moved longitudinally without operating the lever; but the slot, from a point near its longitudinal center to its end farthest from the collar s,is'made two or three times wider than its opposite end, whereby a TOO rectangular projection, ci, is formed, which is adapted to engage with the end of the lever when the sleeve is partially rotated, and which thus serves to oscillate the lever by a longitudinal movement of the sleeve and spindle when it is desired to release the catch from the keeper w.

When the latch .is made to be used separate from the lock combination the lever may be bifurcated at its inner end,.so as to stride the knob-spindle at its reduced portion, and the shoulder thereon will serve to oscillate the lever when the knobs and spindle are moved in the manner described.

The object ofthe construction of the sleeve above described is to enable a lock to be conibined with the latch.

It is apparent from the preceding description that the sleeve in a certain position cannot b e made to release the catch, because it ,does not engage with the lever g, and consequently, by providing` suitable means for holding the sleeve in said position, the door may be eiectually locked and so held at the will ot the operator within the house. Accordingly thesleeve is provided at opposite points with projections a: y, the former of which is connected by means ot' a wire, z, with a similar projection or arm, a', on the end of a spindle, b', which is journaled in the inside escutcheonplate, c', and is adapted to be moved longitudinally against the tension of an elliptical spring, d, through which it passes. The projection y on the sleeve is provided with a coilspring, e', which is connected to the escutchcon-plate c in such manner that it shall tend to retract the sleeve to its normal position when moved out of the same by the rotation of spindle b. ln order to hold the sleeve either in or out ot'its normal position, the arm a on the spindle b is provided with a projection, f', at the end opposite to the wire z, which may be made to engage with either the upper or lower surface of a stop, g', secured to the escutcheon-plate c by simply drawing the spindle b by its knob h' against the tension of A spring d' until the projection f is thrown out of engagement with its stop, and then, by a slight rotation ot' the spindle b', the projection f may be adj usted to engage with either side of the stop, when the elliptical spring d' is allowed to retract the spindle to itsnormal position. It willbe perceived that by this means the sleeve t can be set so that the projection o thereon will not be ina position to strike and operate the lever g when the sleeve and its supportingspindle are moved longitudinally. Consequently when, by means of the mechanism above described the sleeve is held in the position indicated, the latch cannot be retracted by any operation of the knobs u o. Before the door can be opened the sleeve must be returned to its normal position by the proper movement of the spindle b.

To unlock the door from without I provide the following means: To the outer escutchconplate, i', is secured a slide-boX,y`/, consistingl of a plate, lo', having rectangular flanges atopposite edges, and within the tlan ges shoulders Z', for supporting the corresponding plate, m', the inner surface of which is provided with a horizontal recess, a', and a series ot' narrow vertical recesses, o', crossing the recess n'. Within the shoulders Z of the plate k are provided shoulders p', to form a contact-surface on one side for a slide, q', which is inclosed within the box and adapted to slide horizontally therein. This slide is provided with a bearing-plate, r', secured to one end thereof at right angles thereto, and is slotted vertically with its slots s', corresponding in number, size, and relative position with the vertical slots in the plate m. In contact with the central portion of the plate 7c' are loosely arranged a series of small plates, t', which are constructedwith rectangular ilanges adapted to project through the slots ot' the slide q' and into the slots or recesses 0 of the plate m. With this construction it will readily be perceived that the slide cannot be moved within the box when the flanges of the small plates t are in engagement with the vertical slots of the plate forming a side of t-he box,' but that the plates t must first belifted untilthe flanges thereon shall be in line with the horizontal recess n in the plate m. The plates t are therefore beveled at their lower ends, in order that a flat key, a', which is to be inserted through a slot in the outside escuteheon-plate, shall be passed under the plates t to lift them to the required position to throw their flanges out of engagement with the pla-te m'. When the key is thus inserted its end will rest against a suitable stop on the slide g', and by pressing the key inward the slide will be moved against `the end ot the spindle b', whereby it will be operated in the manner already described to throw the sleeve tinto its normal position, so that the catch can be unbolted by the longitudinal movement ot' the sleeve and its spindie.

I design that the key u shall be provided with notches in its upper edge, which shall be of a gradually-increasing depth toward the point of the key, and the flanges of the plates t are so arranged with respect to the said plates that in each successive plate of the series, from the key-hole inward, the lower end ofthe plate shallproject fartherbelow the lower end of the ange, in order that when the abovedescribed key is placed under the plates the llauges shall be in a line with the horizontal recess n. It is evident that such a construction is capable of a great number of permutations, whereby no two keys and locks need be made like each other. As a means of securing the door from within, to prevent any one with a key from unlocking it, a pin,o, may be provided with a seat in the bearing of the spindle, which seat shall pass through or partially through the spindle itself, so that when the pin isA inserted therein the spindle cannot be moved by the action of the key and slide Q.

In order that theknobspindle may be moved IOO IIO

longitudinally by turning leither knob, as Well as by pushing` or pulling them, respectively, the elongated bearing for the spindle on the inside escutcheon plate is cut away from underneath with its edges sloping upward on opposite sides of the spindle or the shank of the knob, to form a double cam, and thescrew passing through the knob and spindle, or any other suitable projection from the knob, is made to project so that it shall be in contact with thecam. With this construction, when the knobs are turned i n either direction the pin and cam will cause the spindle and sleeve to move in the required manner, limited by stop t', so that said pin or other projection from the knobshank will not slip over the end of either cam and thus prevent the spring lc-from performing its office; Ybutwheu the door is locked, to prevent the knob-spindle from being unduly twisted by any person not having the proper means for unlocking it, the spindle and knobs, not now being limited by stop t, are allowed to slide through far enough `so that the pin or projecting-screw will slide oil one or the other of the cams, thus allowing the ,knobs and spindle to turn round and round. The outside escutcheonplate is provided with sleeves n2, which are threaded internally and secured to the inner surface of said plate, whereby said plate may be secured in position by the screws zo', which pass through the inside escutcheon-plate and into said sleeves. In this manner the plates are adapted to be secured to doors of different thicknesses, the sleeves serving as nuts to hold the screws in any desired position, and the screws cannot beunscrewed fromthe outside.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with the lever and the catch connected thereto, of the knob-spindle adaptedV to slide longitudinally and having a reduced portion near its center, the sleeve covering the said reduced portion and having a longitudinal slot made wider at one end than at the other to form a projection, which may be thrown in and out of engagement with the lever', and means for rotating the sleeve and holding it in either of two positions', substantially as shown and described.

.2. rlhe combination, with the lever and the sliding knob-spindle, of the slotted sleeve having projections on opposite sides, the retaining spring connected to one of the projections, a second spindle having ari gid arm connected to the other projection on the sleeve, and a stop for holding the arm, and through it the sleeve, in either of two positions, and a spring for retracting the second spindle to its normal position when moved longitudinally, and a suitable spring connected to the second spindle and adapted to hold it normally in a given position, with its arm -in engagement with the'stop, substantially as show-n and described, and for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination, with the sleeve mounted on the knob-spindle, and the second spindle having the arm connected 'to the sleeve and normally held by a stop, of-the elliptical spring arranged to hold the said second spindle in a given position normally, and adapted to be compressed by a longitudinal movement ot' the spindle `to release the said arm from the stop, substantially as shown and described, whereby the said spindle may be conveniently operated in the same manner by different means arranged within and without the door, as set forth.

4t. The combination, with the sleeve, the knob-spindle, thel elliptical spring, and the secou'd spindle connected to said spring and having the arm connected to the sleeve and held in anormal positionby a stop, of a slide arranged at the end of said spindle, and

adapted to be moved against the spindle to operate the same and its connections by means ot' a key to be inserted from without.,`substan tially as shown anddescribed.

5. The combination, with the spindle adapted to'lock or unlock the latching mechanism, ot'

the `box formed ot'a flanged andshouldered plate and a horizontally and vertically recessed plate, the vertically-slotted slide arranged `within the box, the series of plates having their lower ends beveledand provided with anges engaging with' the vertical slots of the slide and the vertical recesses in the box-plate, and the key having notches in one edge for engaging with and lifting the said series ot' plates to release the slide, substantially as shown and described.

6. The combination, with the lever, the catch, the knob-spindle, and the slotted sleeve, and means for holding the sleeve, ot' the knob having a projection from its shank, and the escutcheon-plate having an elongated bearing for the shank of the knob, which bearing is cutaway to form adouble cam, Vsubstantially as shown `and described.

7. The combination, with the catch having a projecting lip, as described, and pivoted in a recess in the face-plate, and adapted to be operated by contact with the keeper in latching and unlatching, of the spring-actuated lever, the tubular casing inclosing the same and having a fulcrum and stop therefor, the link connecting the lever with the catch and preventing the catch from unlatching until it is drawn back by the lever so thatits rounded projection can engage in the curved recess in the catch as the door is opened, and the spindle having adjustable means whereby the' lever may or may not be operated by the longitudinal movement of the spindle, at will, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof Iatiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE H. van wtNKLE.

IIO 

